Gov. Patrick Morrisey (left) announces Patrick Lee Miller (right) as the first director of West Virginia University’s Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo courtesy of West Virginia Governor’s Office Patrick Morrisey)
Dr. Patrick Lee Miller will serve as the first director Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statecraft at West Virginia University, a up-to-date academic center commissioned by Republican lawmakers for the Morgantown campus.
The bill passed earlier this year gave Gov. Patrick Morrisey the task of appointing the center’s first director, which he publicly announced Wednesday at the state Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.
“We said we wanted to teach students how to think, not what to think, and we wanted to make sure that the values that made America great were conveyed with honesty and pride,” Morrisey said.
“Dr. Miller and the Washington Center will push back on the woke ideology that has infected our schools and help return higher education to its true purpose,” he added.
House Bill 3297 commissioned WVU to operate the Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship, which focuses on teaching constitutional studies and “great debates about Western civilization.” According to the governor’s office, it will also provide “fact-based instructions on the founding of America.”
Miller is tasked with overseeing the Washington Center, including managing and recruiting staff and overseeing its curriculum and program budget.
“We should revere this civilization. In my opinion, it is the greatest,” Miller said at the news conference. “I believe that in order to understand this crisis, students need to understand how we got here.”
Miller previously worked at Duquesne University, where he has been an associate professor of philosophy since 2012. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“My vision is to educate students in the Western tradition, from ancient Greece and Rome to the formulation of the U.S. Constitution to the current crisis,” he said.
Miller’s published books include “Truth, Trump, Tyranny: Plato and the Sophists in an Era of ‘Alternative Facts'” and “Becoming God: Pure Reason in Early Greek Philosophy.”
During the press conference, Miller spoke several times about a crisis in the country, but did not define its nature.
“The crisis has many components, but I think the recent outbreak of political violence in this country is a sign that there is a crisis,” Miller said in response to a question from Ogden Newspaper reporter Steven Allen Adams. “Now is not the time to discuss its exact nature and causes.”
Lawmakers allocated $1.5 million from the state budget to WVU so the university could establish the Washington Center program, including hiring Miller and faculty. The legislation required the university to have five additional faculty at the center.
The Washington Center may utilize existing faculty and courses to meet the bill’s civics instruction requirements.
“I am very pleased that WVU will now have the opportunity to host this Washington Center and that he will have the opportunity to participate in the debate,” said WVU President Michael Benson. “We hope to attract wonderful scientists and teachers.”
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